The Tale of 「Killer Queen」
by VoyeurTheNinja
Summary: After the battle with Oriko and Kirika, came the homocidal Puella Magi of enigmatic origins: Ogenasa Shinobu, the Killer Queen. Unsure of how she came to be in this timeline, Homura will have to work together with her fellow Magi if she is to hunt down and kill Killer Queen before she erases them from existence.
1. Prologue: Killer Queen(?)

In the sterile-white lounge of her house, Homura sat with crossed legs as she was filing every document she had about previous timelines and events that had happened up until now. From the time she had become a Puella Magi, to her ordeal with Oriko and Kirika, and her multiple endeavors with Walpurgis Night.

As more and more unpredictable events piled up, Homura had been taking count of the factors that had started them in the first place. All so she could destroy said factors the next time she restarted the timeline once more, repeating her never-ending loop of pain and misery. This was why Oriko, a individual that posed a high threat to her, had become a small nuisance in her plan to save Kaname Madoka.

Homura made sure that each new timeline would have lesser problems and obstacles blocking her, but, of course, you cannot predict what happens in life and in the world. You'd have to be an omnipotent, all-seeing god to do that. But that was a silly thing to think about. No person can become god.

But, even so, Homura pushed on.

A certain pink file in Homura's hands caught her eye and Homura pulled it out from her collection. Scanning its cover, it was one of the more important documents which listed a highly-dangerous event and its starting factors, unlike the others which mostly consisted of minorities like Kyosuke playing a guitar or some other dribble like that.

The pink file was labeled with a big, red "urgent" tag and Homura opened up the small file to pull out its wrinkled papers. Her eyes narrowed at its familiar contents and her lips pursed as Homura's grip on the file tightened, slowly crumpling the files in her hands.

A title read as "Killer Queen" was written as the first line on the starting paragraph. This title was not created by Homura. It was the name of its self-proclaimed owner from a previous, hazardous timeline. Like Oriko, this "Killer Queen" was a menace that threatened the existence of Kaname Madoka and Homura herself. She was a Puella Magi that was not as smart, but highly cunning and nearly took Homura's life with a click of a button. Her name was read as "Ogenasa Shinobu" and Homura remembered this name clearly.

* * *

It was an early morning in Mitakihara, the clouds hung peacefully above in the blue skies as people went by their daily business. Office workers worked tirelessly in front of their desks and computers, waiters went between table-to-table in restaurants and taxi drivers drove carefully in the streets of the polished, prestigious city. Clean, hard effort was what made the city it was today and kept it strong.

It was the date of March 16th and Homura had just been discharged from the hospital. As usual, Homura was quick to get to work and immediately began doing everything she could to get this timeline right. Even if the possibility of failure was there, Homura brushed off that possibility and focused on completing her tasks without failure.

The first thing she was to do was to eliminate the first factor that made Kaname Madoka contract in the first place. It was to save a black stray cat by the name of "Amy". The cat wasn't interested in other people, per say, and it always wandered the streets of this city by itself. But Madoka had contracted with Kyubey when she had witnessed Amy being struck by a car. It was to happen in a street not too far away from the hospital and Homura quickly went over there to begin her work.

Dressed in a set of casual clothes, Homura had a holster bag to carry her files on the way to the designated point.

In a few minutes, she was in the very street. Her eyes narrowed and scanned the area for the small, black feline, "Where is it?"

A soft 'meow' was heard across the street and Homura's head snapped to its direction. There, a small, petit cat was going to make its way across the street. Down the road, a car could be seen driving up to where Homura and the cat was. Inevitably, if Homura didn't do anything, Amy would be struck and Madoka would sell her soul just to save this stray cat.

Homura quickly rushed across the street and picked up the small cat which began struggling in Homura's tight grip on it. The car drove past Homura and took a turn down the road. That was one factor down.

Looking at the cat, Amy was visibly uncomfortable being held by a stranger and tried fighting to get out of Homura's hand. It looked undeniably cute, though.

"I'll make sure you don't cause any trouble," Homura said and went down the sidewalk. A small animal shelter wasn't far from here and it would be a good place to keep Amy (and Madoka) safe. The feline kept struggling in Homura's grip, but the Puella Magi barely reacted to its efforts.

* * *

At a small building set between two taller ones, the double doors slid open upon Homura's arrival and the stench of animal fur was strong in the small, yet, clean, lobby. There were plenty of people in the lounge, some wanted to adopt an animal and some were just here to get some vaccines for the family pet. The staff worked tirelessly to help these customers and Homura was one of them.

After waiting between a elderly man with a golden dog that had a cone around its neck and a woman with three small hamsters in a cage, it was Homura's turn to go to the counter.

"I would like to leave this animal in your care," Homura bluntly said, putting down the still-struggling feline on the counter, "I found it near a street nearby. It nearly got struck by a car."

The worker scratched Amy's chin, to no rejection. He placed his hand on the counter and apologized, "I'm sorry, but the shelter is already full. We cannot accept any more animals," he gestured to the other animals in the lobby, "We've been getting a lot of strays lately, and only a few had been set up for adoption."

Homura frowned, "Is there anything you can do?"

The man shook his head, "I'm afraid not. Once again, we apologize for the inconvenience, ma'am."

The Puella Magi ran a hand through her hair and sighed, picking up the feline from the counter, "It's alright. I understand," with that, she left the lounge, passing by an old lady with two noisy parrots and a young boy boy with a feisty Chihuahua.

Exiting the building with a pestered sigh, she accidentally bumped into a young girl who fell to the floor and squirmed. Homura rubbed her head from the impact and apologized, "I'm sorry. Are you hurt?" looking at the girl, she wore the Mitakihara Middle-School uniform, the outfit Homura recognized very easily. She looked to be the same age as Homura, too.

The young girl sitting on the pavement rubbed her head and squirmed, "O-Ouch," she uttered, rubbing her pimpled forehead with one hand. Her cheeks had a set of freckles and one side of her blonde hair had been tied into a ponytail. When she saw the raven-haired girl's stare, she immediately got up from her sitting position and bowed down in apology, "I-I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going!"

Homura raised a brow and shared a confused look with Amy. She placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, saying, "No, it was my fault. There's no need to apologize."

The girl stood back up again and fidgeted slightly, "S-Sorry. Oh, and sorry for apolo-" the girl's eyes darted to Amy, who stared at her in return while sitting in Homura's hand, "I-Is that a cat?" she began fidgeting even more, this time, in excitement.

"Hmm? Oh, yes," Homura answered. _Maybe I could get rid of Amy this way?_

She held the small cat to the girl and extended her arm, "Do you want it?"

"What?! I.. Errr... My mother and father doesn't..." The freckled girl began to fidget like a little girl. She couldn't say 'No' to the little black feline held in front of her for free. Biting her lip, she answered, "Y-Yes, I want it!"

Homura bluntly dropped it in her arms and placed her fur-stained hands back into her pockets, "Then it's your's now," Homura said, walking away in a calm and collected manner.

"T-Thank you so much!" the freckled girl ran up to Homura, "C-Can you tell me your name?"

Homura stopped in her tracks held back her need to sigh and properly answered so she could get back to dealing with people like Oriko, "Akemi Homura," she answered.

"T-Then my name's Ogenasa Shinobu!" Shinobu bowed down again, holding the confused Amy tight in her arms, "Again, t-thank you very much!"

The Puella Magi silently nodded and continued walking down the street, no longer hearing anymore 'thanks' from the girl behind. With that out of the way, Homura had one less burden to deal with. Now, it was time for to book a ticket for a train ride to Kazamino and ask for some assistance in dealing with Oriko and Kirika. The two were a major obstacle in her plans, and Homura had to make sure she was one step ahead of them.

* * *

Back in her bedroom, Homura sat in her bed which was surrounded by piles of files, documents and notes, all messily strewn across the floor. How she knew which was which was a mystery to even Homura and the girl made a mental note to file all of these next time.

The television in front of Homura's bed was playing a sort of news report, to which Homura never really paid attention to. It was the usual stuff: Crisis in the world, wars between countries, gas and food product price inflation and natural disasters striking countries, killing millions. Homura was used to this sort of misery, having gone through Hell herself by repeating her endless loop to save Kaname Madoka.

But then, the next report caught her eyes, ears and attention. In the corner of her eye, a report of a gas station accident was being read on the local news. It was in a block not too far way from the animal shelter and there was almost no survivors. The accident was most likely caused by the fuel in the station having been ignited, which caused a devastating explosion that kill all but one person. The single survivor had been brutally burned, said the reporter, but she was still alive.

Homura raised a brow upon a picture of the survivor being shown. She could barely be described from the severe burn marks on her face and body.

But, her name?

Her name was read as Ogenasa Shinobu.

**_- To Be Continued -_**


	2. Chapter 1: The Girl With A Quiet Life

Yes, it was on that fateful day that Homura had met Ogenasa Shinobu, a timid, young girl who was unable to properly decide and fend for herself at times. Honestly, she reminded Homura of her past self. But, the paths they took and the destinies held for them were of the polar opposite in life.

The days after that encounter went by peacefully - for Homura's standards, at least. Kyubey had been prevented from contracting with Madoka, Homura and her Beretta pistol had made sure of that, and with assistance from Tomoe Mami, Sakura Kyoko and Chitose Yuma, Homura had easily taken down both Oriko and Kirika with little to no fatalities on her own side.

Instead, the ordeal that was the oracle and her blood-thirsty servant had solidified a stable truce between the four Puella Magi and they had been working together ever since. Well, if 'working together' meant doing things together when their interests coincidentally crossed, then that would be correct term to use. Not that it bothered Homura in a way, she preferred to work alone if it was simple tasks she was doing.

In her lounge, Homura shuffled the Killer Queen files and continued reading.

But, on the day they defeated Oriko and Kirika, the last words of Mikuni Oriko were undeniably disturbing and cryptic.

* * *

As the Witch Barrier that Kirika had created began to shatter and break down like glass, Oriko stood with a blood trailing down the corner of her mouth and her hand clenching the bullet holes shot into her abdomen and arms. Kyoko, Mami, Yuma and Homura watched as the powerful Puella Magi, Mikuni Oriko, was mere seconds away from joining her friend Kirika, in death.

Kyoko's thrown spear was impaled in her chest and the oracle pulled the weapon out of her body before throwing it to the checkered ground. The wound in her chest squirted out blood and more dripped more the tip of Kyoko's spear. She stood in front of Kirika's corpse, which sat on a chair with her eyes completely shut.

"I... can't... let myself be defeated now!" Oriko panted between words, refusing to give up her mission on exterminating Kaname Madoka.

Oriko blinked, and then widened her eyes as Homura now stood in front of her with a black pistol aimed at her silver Soul Gem. The Puella Magi's finger held the trigger tightly. Homura knew what what her last words were going to be: "Won't you shoot?", and this time, she wasn't going to let Oriko have a chance at killing Madoka. It was a horrible mistake she had made before, and she wasn't going to let it happen again.

But no, Oriko chuckled grimly instead, to Homura's surprise.

"What's so funny?" Homura narrowed her eyes.

"You believe I shall be the only Puella Magi to threaten Kaname Madoka's life?" Oriko giggled hauntingly, "You're wrong about that, Akemi Homura. For I have seen the upcoming arrival of another one. Another Puella Magi you have indirectly created without the intention to. And with that, I'm happy that my mission will be carried on by someone else. Even if it's not their main goal, killing Madoka by coincidence would be good enough for me," she giggled again.

Homura grimaced and Oriko smiled devilishly.

_Click._

Oriko's Soul Gem utterly shattered into a thousand pieces as the bullet pushed back Oriko's dying body. With a loud thud, Oriko fell to the checkered floor on her back, her eyes turning dull with a smile still plastered on her face. A last breath escaped Oriko's lips, coming out just loud enough for only Homura to hear, "The Killer... Queen... will... erase you... Haha... Hahahaha..."

Her mouth halted all movements and her body went limp.

"Is it over?" Kyoko's weapon disappeared and she put her arms on her head to relax.

"Yes, she's dead," Homura answered, keeping her pistol away. 'Killer Queen'. That name ran through Homura's mind constantly. Who was this 'Killer Queen'? Another one of Oriko's subordinates? A Puella Magi from another city? What could be her reasons for attacking Madoka? Now was not the time for that, Homura thought and looked to her new-found allies.

She now had the Puella Magi of Kazamino and Mitakihara to back her up. With this, she had a feeling this 'Killer Queen' would be an easy, single threat to face with such skill and numbers at her side. Oriko was gone, and so was Kirika, so that was reassuring for the mean time as the Witch Barrier finally collapsed and revealed their school once more.

After making sure everyone, including Madoka, was all right, a truce had been formed between the Puella Magi. Homura and Mami were on stable terms, only working together if they needed to. And for Yuma and Kyoko, they had told Homura that if they needed any help with something or someone, she could call them and they'd come to Mitakihara in a flash. They just told her to keep some snacks ready if she called them, because hearing them complain about the lack of food was an unnecessary pain in the eardrums.

* * *

Back in her house, Homura fell back on her file-covered bed in her sleepwear and stared at the black ceiling of her room. Fighting Oriko and Kirika had been tiresome, the constant time-stops she was forced to use added to that fatigue and made Homura unable to move her body for the night. All was well, at least she had Mami, Kyoko and that new girl to patrol both Mitakihara and Kazamino for Witches now. Madoka and Sayaka had also chosen to remain normal girls for now, the incident of Oriko having made them reconsider their choices.

Another good thing as well for Homura. Now that she learnt how dangerous being a Puella Magi is, maybe she won't have to make a contract with Kyubey and fight Walpurgis Night either. Sayaka also had to be watched over. If she were to be a Puella Magi, she'd most likely turn into a Witch and force Kyoko to make a double-suicide with her. Thus, manpower and moral would drop. But, Mami had at least gotten over the fate that waited all Puella Magi after witnessing Kirika's transformation. She needed to keep their numbers high, if she wanted any chance of beating Walpurgis Night.

"We interrupt this program to bring you a special report," the news reporter on the television in her room spoke, somewhat gaining Homura's drifting attention, "At the Mitakihara hospital, a bombing had taken place in one of the areas of the building and killed a total of 30 people. The reasons for the explosions are unknown, but as God may have it, one person had survived the explosion. Nurses have reported her name as "Ogenasa Shinobu".

Homura's eyes opened. She remembered that name from a few days ago. Wasn't she the girl that had survived the gas station accident?

"Miraculously, Shinobu had been discovered under a bed with only a few cuts and burns. She had also survived the incident days ago and her scars had surprisingly healed since then. A successor to the rich Ogenasa family, Shinobu has already survived 2 bombing accidents. Here she is receiving medical care outside the hospital."

Homura sat up from her bed and rubbed her eyes. Her eyes widened at the shot of Shinobu who not just already recovered from her terrible burns, but also survived the bombing. And the reason why the time-stopper was surprised, was because at one of the shots of Shinobu being treated by a nurse, Homura saw the glimmering ring of a Puella Magi on one of her fingers.

Paranoia ran through her mind. Was she the fated 'Killer Queen'? Was her bombing survival not mere coincidences and Kyubey had granted her a wish to heal her wounds? Was she going to be a threat in her plan?

Her eyes narrowed on the screen and Homura brought a finger to her chin.

This was serious and had to be dealt with seriously. She had just passed the ordeal that was Oriko without losing anyone, and she wasn't going to let someone force to her to turn back time once more. She had enough of it. Homura was going to make sure this girl wouldn't be a threat to anyone she knew, _especially_ Madoka. Tomorrow, she was going to have a meeting with this girl and ask everything she wanted to be answered about this girl.

* * *

The next morning, at school, birds flew pass the glass windows beside Homura as she walked in the corridor of the classroom section in the school. Shinobu had already returned to school, and Homura was looking for the freckled girl. Searching for her class was a pain, due to the fact that **every **classroom was stationed in one area. Getting lost was an easy thing, so she had asked Maths Teacher Sei who pointed in her direction of Shinobu's class and gratefully thanked him for it.

Homura found her sitting alone in a classroom, quietly doodling a few drawings in her book while listening to music with an antique Walkman. She knocked on the glass classroom door and called for her, "Ogenasa Shinobu?"

The girl sat up and stuttered upon hearing her name, "Y-Yes, Teache-?! Oh, A-Akemi?" Shinobu recognized the raven-haired girl and ran up to her, "Y-You're Akemi Homura, the girl that gave me that cat, right?!

Homura nodded in affirmation, staring at the ring on Shinobu's finger. The girl's scars and burns that Homura saw in the past news report were completely gone, and strangely, so were the freckles and pimples on her face, "I'm here to talk," she turned away from the door, "Follow me. Now," Homura walked down the hallway, keeping her stoic expression as she did so.

"Huh? W-Wait a sec'!" Shinobu ran to catch up to her, "A-Akemi?"

After a few minutes of walking with Shinobu keeping quiet behind Homura, the raven-haired girl stood on the empty school rooftop with Shinobu sitting down in front of her like a diligent child, her fingers fidgeting as Homura continued to ominously stare at the ring on Shinobu's finger. From reports handed to her by one of the Student Council members, Shinobu was a young student of this school that had no friends to talk to, nor hang out with. She only communicated with teachers, but even that was seldom. It was read that her parents, who had died days ago in the accident, were very strict with Shinobu and had placed numerous restrictions on her life. For years, she lived a boring, controlled, but quiet life.

A calm wind blew past the two, momentarily picking up Shinobu's side ponytail.

"Umm... i-is there a reason why you called me here?' Shinobu piped as Homura sent a glare which frightened her.

Her glare softened and Homura began to start, "Ogenasa Shinobu, you are a Puella Magi, are you not?"

"E-Eh?" she stammered and covered her left hand with the other, denying it, "What are you talking about Ake-?"

"I saw the ring on your finger," Homura cut her off and showed her own ring that proved her own status as a Puella Magi. Shinobu realized this and stopped denying it.

She nodded and stared down on the floor, "Y-Yes, I am."

"Then I have a few questions which I want you to answer: What was the wish you made with Kyubey?" Homura questioned her, leaning in closer on the girl, "What are your powers and what were your reasons for making a contract with Kyubey in the first place? Did you cause the bombing at the hospital last night?"

"I... My wish...-" she brought her hand to her cheek and brushed it lightly. Homura realized she was being a bit too close and backed off lightly, "Don't tell anyone what I'm going to show you, Akemi, please. I-It's a secret."

Homura nodded and Shinobu shut her eyes. A light formed in her hands and Shinobu cupped her face with them. To Homura's surprise, Shinobu's skin began to wither like a dying flower, slowly turning into dust that flew away in the passing-by wind. It wasn't just her face, but her hands and legs, too. Possibly even underneath her clothes. Subsequently, what looked like burn marks and scars began to appear all over her body, the very marks she attained from the gas station accident, except less gruesomer.

Shinbou stared at Homura, saying, "This was my wish. Kyubey, was it? Before I met him, my burn marks had been considered permanent by the doctors and nurses. No matter how much money I offered for a treatment, my body would be forever scarred," she continued staring down at the floor with dead eyes, her arms wrapping around herself, "I-I couldn't bear to live with this. I was already afraid of what people thought of me. So when Kyubey came, I wished to change my looks to what I wanted it to be."

That explained the lack of the girl's freckles and pimples.

Homura folded her arms and said, "And what about the bombing accident in the hospital? How did you survive?"

"Luck," Shinobu answered, "I d-do now know what caused that explosion, but from that, I-I became scarred again. But then Kyubey told me I could change my looks however to whatever I liked, so here I am," she gestured to her burn marks, "As long as I'm a Puella Magi, my magic will hide my burn marks. I could change my face even more if I wanted to, but that would require more magic, from what Kyubey said."

"Kyubey," Homura muttered to herself. So, the scheming bastard had taken advantage of another girl struck by misfortune, Homura thought. But if Shinobu wasn't going to be this 'Killer Queen', from what Homura theorized, who was it going to be? Homura thought again, "Did Kyubey tell you about the beings called 'Witches'?"

"Yes. B-Beings of negative energy, something along those lines," Shinobu brushed her face with her hand again and the scars began to be covered up again with Shinobu's face-changing magic. It was like a sort of plastic surgery that had no limits nor chance of complete failure, "But, I h-have no interest in fighting a Witch. I-I don't have what it takes to fight, I just made the wish so I could make my-"

"It's fine," Homura cut her off again and turned her back to her, "There are more than just you and I when it comes to the Puella Magi of this city. There is 1 more in this town, and 2 in Kazamino, so you do not have to worry about dealing with the Witches. But, if your Soul Gem beings to cloud up, come to us for Grief Seeds. You know what they are, correct?"

Shinobu nodded, "Kyubey told me everything. I-I think."

Now that Homura knew that this girl had no interests in fighting, she was sure that this girl wasn't Killer Queen. Her personality and aspects were too different from Oriko's, and her powers were too safe to be considered an appropriate threat for all Puella Magi here. She had no reason to hurt Madoka either, as she was just a desperate girl who wanted to keep her looks clean. Her surviving the 2 accidents maybe still a bit suspicious, but Homura would still have to keep an eye out for anyone that could be this mysterious 'Killer Queen'.

"Now then," Homura walked towards the stairway, "My questions have all been answered. I shall take my leave now."

"It was nice talking with you, Akemi," Shinobu smiled, "I don't really have anyone to be with at all."

Homura left with rooftop without another word, and once she was gone, Shinobu received call and took out her phone from her pocket. She pressed it to her hear and answered, "Yes? Oh, yes this is Ogenasa Shinobu. You want me to meet up at the shopping mall...? Alright, I'll be there soon, see ya' later," she pocketed the phone and placed it in her pocket with a smile. Standing up from her seat and heading back downstairs, a noticeable cat-skull emblem was attached to her phone with a chain as it dangled and swayed from her pocket.

**_- To Be Continued -_**


	3. Chapter 2: The Metal Skull of a Cat

Hours later, at Mitakihara's most popular, bustling shopping center, Homura had called all the Puella Magi of both Mitakihara and Kazamino, Sayaka and Madoka to a meeting at a small, near-empty fast-food joint in a corner of the mall to discuss about this 'Killer Queen' and what to prepare for its upcoming arrival. Without any leads for herself, Homura had resorted to asking the other Puella Magi for help. Since this was something that would affect all of their lives in the coming days, asking them for help would be useful. If this wasn't stopped before the arrival of Walpurgis Night, things would not go well.

Homura sat on the opposite side of all the gathered girls, with the exception of Mami and Kyoko, who were sitting on her left and right. Empty food trays were strewn all over the long table with food wrappers emptied out by Kyoko and her apprentice, Yuma, "Now then," Homura began, putting her hands on the table and curling them together like a business man, "You all do remember Oriko, correct?"

"Of course," Mami answered for them with a frown, "Ever since she appeared, she had caused nothing but trouble. If it wasn't for her, Teacher Saotome would still be here..."

Sayaka, Mami and Madoka shared a grieving look for their school teacher that had been killed by a Familiar during the attack. The details of that still lingered in the two younger students' minds and would stay there for a significant amount of time.

Kyoko, on the other hand, nonchalantly bit down on a piece of Pocky and passed a piece to Yuma, "That bitch nearly killed us all. I don't know what the Hell was wrong with her, but she definitely was messed up in here," Kyoko pointed at her head to get the point across.

"Is she why we're all here?" Yuma asked, raising her hand while munching on her Pocky stick.

"No, no exactly," Homura said and tapped her finger on the table, "After I had dealt the killing blow, Oriko had whispered something about a 'Killer Queen' coming to this town. Even though she was mentally unstable, I am sure she wouldn't waste her last breath lying instead of dealing one last attack of desperation."

"Aw, come on," Kyoko groaned and put her feet on the table, leaning back on her seat, "You're gonna believe that crazy bitch? She'd lie anytime just to get us riled up. Heck, she's the reason why Yuma contracted with Kyubey in the first place!"

Yuma silently nodded in agreement.

"Speaking of Kyubey," Mami brushed her cheek and looked around the area, "I haven't seen him for a while ever since Oriko attacked..."

Homura noticed that, too. For days, Kyubey hasn't be around the girls, nor has it been trying to get Sayaka or even Madoka to contract with it. Wherever that thing was, Homura theorized it must be up to something and could be involved with this dilemma. It always was, since It would use any given situation to try and get Madoka to contract with it. Homura was going to say the same when Kyoko interjected with a light wave of her hand.

"Eh, he must be somewhere else trying to get more girls to contract with him. The small rat always does that," Kyoko shrugged and devoured another Pocky stick in a flash.

Homura continued, "Back to my point about this 'Killer Queen', the reason I gathered you all here is because I want you all to keep an eye out for anything suspicious. If Oriko was confident enough to let Killer Queen finish us all off for her, then she must be a dangerous Puella Magi with powers strong enough to take all of us combined."

"It's not just about powers, Akemi," Mami retorted, "If one is cunning and smart enough, even the most simplistic power can rival those that stand taller than it. We must consider her as a excellent tactician, as well."

Kyoko laughed, almost falling back in her seat, "You may be right about that, but with the 4 of us here, and plenty of experience to back us up, we'd squash this Killer Whatever in just a few seconds," she boasted, flinging a Pocky stick in the air and catching it between her teeth, "It's gonna be a piece of cake. Right, Yuma?"

"Yeah!" Yuma agreed with her older sister-figure while both Sayaka and Mami frowned at her overconfidence.

"Kyoko, you're to rash!" Sayaka called her out, but her words fell on deaf ears.

"Again, I want you all to keep an eye out for anyone that could be a Puella Magi," Homura continued, and looked out the window beside her where a flock of birds flew by, "She could be anyone, anywhere at any time. My last lead on Killer Queen was a girl named 'Ogenasa Shinobu', who had contracted with Kyubey not too long ago. But, she has no interest in fighting, nor is there any evidence that could point to her being Killer Queen, so all suspicions to her can be cut off. Understood?"

"Sure, sure," Kyoko shrugged.

Mami sighed at the younger Magi's lack of seriousness and said, "If it's to protect this town, then of course," she gave a small bow.

"And you two," Homura directed her attention to Sayaka and Madoka, "Do not do anything rash. As you two are now, you both would only endangers others and get in the way. Do not simple make a wish at a moment's notice either, or else you two will regret it."

"R-Right," Sayaka hesitated. Although she didn't like her tone, the Puella Magi had a point.

Madoka nodded, to no objections.

"Then this meeting is over," Homura got up from her seat and flung her school bag over her shoulder, "Do not let this Killer Queen get us with our backs turned. Stay close and make sure to report to each other whenever the slightest danger appears."

* * *

Now that the meeting was over, the group had gone their separate ways again for the meantime. Since Kazamino recently had its Witch-count lowered to a minimum, Kyoko and Yuma had gone off somewhere to find a place to stay in Mitakihara. Kyoko had teased Sayaka by saying they were gonna stay at her place, but the blue-haired girl refused, to the two Magi's amusement. Mami had gone back home to drop her school bag there before going off to patrol the area for Witches, Homura had most likely done the same, as well. Meanwhile, Madoka and Sayaka continued to wander around the Mall for a bit.

After all, they were just normal girls.

"Jeez, Kyoko's always saying crap she never means!" Sayaka groaned loudly, her cheeks still red as a tomato as the two were having a small browse in a music store a few meters away from the fast-food joint they were in.

"Maybe she does mean it, but you don't really notice it," Madoka giggled, making Sayaka fluster even more.

"W-What are you talking about? She never means what she says," Sayaka put on a pair of headsets from the music testing machine and held them tight to block out her friend's teasing, "... Right?"

"Well, now that we all are friends, maybe we can hang out some more," Madoka suggested, checking out some CDs from the shelves. But at the corner of her eye, she noticed another student of their school walking into the store through the sliding double-doors. She couldn't really get a good look at her, but she noticed a small cat-skull key-chain dangling from her pocket. The girl also had this sort of weird vibe to her, despite the kind smile that Madoka managed to spot on her face as she was speaking to one of the store employee's for directions.

She then disappeared into the deeper parts of the shop which sold some classic 80's rock music and blended in with the other customers currently there.

Madoka shook her head, bringing her attention back to Sayaka, who was engrossed in some music she had picked for herself, "Anyway, did you get what you need?"

"Sure did," Sayaka put back the headset and flashed some CDs, "Didn't think they sell these babies anymore. Come on, let's hit the arcade after this!"

They spent a few minutes buying the discs they had wanted, and during this, Madoka didn't even see the girl she saw earlier come out of the section she went in just now. Maybe she was still buying what she needed in there? Well, it wasn't her business, so Madoka and Sayaka head out of the CD store, with Madoka trying to continue the topic of Kyoko and Yuma living in Sayaka's place. The blue-haired girl tried to avoid that topic at all cost, but Madoka just found it too fun to stop since her friend's expression was utterly priceless.

That was when until, after a few seconds of walking away from the store, the shop spontaneously exploded with a sound that echoed through the rest of the Mall. The pressure wave of its blast radius was intense enough to blow the two girl's off their feet and throw them a few meters ahead from where they were walking. The girl's didn't knew what hit them until they looked back and saw the store that was now nothing more than a smoking pile of debris, fire and scattered glass.

Madoka was trembling with fear and Sayaka was too shocked to react. Bits of glass and shrapnel had struck Sayaka and Madoka, but luckily enough, nothing dangerous and no bleeding had occurred.

But this was not Sayaka's concern as she stood up and crushed bits of glass beneath her shoe. The school girl watched the flames flicker as people could be faintly heard calling for help from within the burning shop. Picking up her friend and settling her on the nearest bench, nearby shoppers screamed and ran away in panic as Sayaka turned back to the shop with tightened hands.

"S-Sayaka, what are you doing?"

"Stay here, Madoka," Sayaka ordered, "There's people inside there that need saving and I'm not going to wait for help."

"Sayaka!"

The blue-haired girl bolted towards the burning store like lightning, ignoring the flames that licked at her uniform and the pleas from Madoka that did little to persuade her to turn back.

Madoka sat there, unsure of what to do. Looking down on the floor, she noticed something that flew from the store and landed near to where she was. Picking it up, it was hot from the fire and Madoka immediately dropped it to the floor where it landed with a sizzling hiss. Madoka looked closely at it this time and saw that it was the same cat-skull key-chain that was dangling from that girl's pocket. In it there was a name engraved into it.

* * *

The sun sat on the horizon as the color of the skies turned into a mixture of blue, orange and fiery red. It was something that looked like it belonged on the canvas of a famous painter and was a beautiful sight to behold. But the sight of firefighters, paramedics and policemen rushing to the aid of people in the Mitakihara Shopping Mall was not. Children were crying for their parents, men and women mourned for their loved ones that had been caught in the explosion and many had the looks that showed that they would remember this traumatizing experience for years.

Across the street, Sayaka silently watched those that she had helped to rescue being brought into ambulances and the sight of the bleeping, active monitors had somewhat relieved the girl who had bits of ash staining her face and uniform. Beside her, Madoka was telling Homura over the phone about the key-chain she had found and the girl she had saw walking into the very store that had been caught in the accident.

On the other side of the line, Homura gasped at the name, "Are you sure about the name?"

"There's no doubt about it. It reads 'Ogenasa Shinobu'."

In her pearl-white lounge, Homura sat on one of the curved couches that had been arranged in a circular formation around a small table. While holographic displays of Witches floated around her, Homura flicked her hair and thought to herself, _"Ogenasa, just what were you doing there...? Was it a coincidence?"_

"Also..."

Homura raised a brow and stood up from her seat in a pair of casual clothing, "Also?"

"I swear she didn't exit the store. I'm sure of it. If she wasn't, I don't think I'd find this key-chain... But, when Sayaka and I got out of the mall... I saw her walking out as well. She was perfectly fine, it was as if she didn't get caught in the accident at all."

Homura paused for a second and brought a finger to her chin. She then walked towards the door to her house and opened it, "Alright, I want you and Sayaka to head back now. Although this may sound extreme, I want you to stay in your house no matter what happens. The same goes for Sayaka."

"Okay."

Ending the call, Homura dialed in another number, one she had found from the school files given to her. She entered Shinobu's number and called her up for a small talk. Shinobu had answered almost immediately and agreed to a certain point, unaware of what Homura was going to ask. It was in the Mitakihara Shopping Mall where they met up at a wooden bench a few meters away from the music store. From the looks of it, the store was now an empty, black husk of what it formally was and cleaners had been sent there to do their jobs.

Sitting on the small bench with crossed legs, Homura was quiet for a few seconds as Shinobu patiently waited for her to ask the questions she had for her. Only when there was nobody passing by, did Homura finally speak up in a hush tone.

"What were you doing here a few hours ago, Ogenasa?"

"E-Excuse me?"

Homura lifted her hand and opened her closed palm to reveal a cat-skull key-chain with Shinobu's name on it, dangling from her finger with a metallic chain. It jingled for a second as Homura continued, narrowing her eyes on Shinobu, "My friends saw you here earlier where an explosion had occurred in a store nearby, as you know. I repeat my question, Ogenasa: Just what were you doing here? Did you cause the explosion in that store?"

Shinobu stuttered, shifting away slightly in her seat as she could feel Homura's cold, hard glare stab her chest like a knife, "I-I don't know what you're talking about, Akemi. I was just shopping here like most students always do," Shinobu took out a few CDs from her pocket and showed it to Homura as evidence, "S-See? If I was there when the explosion had happened, I wouldn't have these intact."

Closing her hand and swinging around the key-chain by its metal chain, Homura turned her glare elsewhere and continued with her questions, "If you weren't there when the explosion happened, then why was this at the crime scene? My friend had found it there when it happened, and it was burning hot from the explosion."

"Maybe I d-dropped it and I didn't notice?" Shinobu explained, scratching her cheek, "I don't really pay attention to my stuff, so maybe it detached from my phone when I wasn't looking..."

Homura dropped the key-chain on the bench and hardened her glare on Shinobu before softening it. She got off the wooden seat and took off with her back to the girl.

'I'm warning you, Ogenasa Shinobu, if I ever catch you harming my friends, you'll regret it."

Shinobu was going to grab her shoulder to explain herself but Homura said no more and just walked out of the area in a clean stride. Even though there were plenty of signs that did point to Shinobu as an innocent bystander, it was all too suspicious. 3 consecutive bombings, all which had this girl in it or nearby. Was it just dumb luck or was there actually a connection between Shinobu and these recent explosions that were labelled as accidents. Hell, were these even accidents? This was all too much for Homura to handle, and using her phone, she called out to the Puella Magi for another meeting at her place.

* * *

Moonlight reflected off the glossy exteriors of the cars parked along the street Kyoko and Yuma beside on the sidewalk. After finding a good place to stay and 'persuading' the hotel managers to let them in for free, they had dropped all their stuff and dumped anything too cumbersome to carry around in the hotel room for safe keeping. The place they stayed in was relatively big and had enough room for the both of them. Although the thought of sleeping at Sayaka's place still seemed like a good idea, Kyoko shrugged it off and continued heading to the designated meeting point Homura had called them to.

The two also had heard about that explosion in the shopping mall a few blocks from here and all those that had died in the accident. But the possibility of it actually **being **an accident was questionable ever since Homura had given them more information about this 'Ogenasa Shinobu', who had been raising Homura's suspicions hours ago, even though they had deemed her clean this early afternoon.

Whether this girl was innocent or not, they were going to find out.

Yuma skipped ahead of Kyoko, playfully walked around in circles around the girl and sometimes paused to stare at a passing-by butterfly. It didn't bother the older Magi for even the slightest bit, but it did lighten the dark mood that came from this street. That place was near empty, save for the restaurants that were still opened and had plenty of people inside them, along with other shops and small stalls.

Lights only came from the ones emitted by the streetlights, although in this part of the city, some flickered non-stop and some were dead, and the rest came from the hawker stalls, restaurants and the previously-mentioned stores. Kyoko was enjoying the silence when Yuma broke it.

"Kyoko, I'm hungry," Yuma moaned, a hand on her grumbling stomach.

"Not now, Yuma," Kyoko replied, patting the girl on the head, "You have to wait until we get there. I don't think we'd wanna get scolded by that girl for delaying the meeting."

Yuma pouted with her cheeks puffed. It was that face Yuma always made whenever she wanted something and Kyoko fell far too much for it these days. And like those previous days, she couldn't resist it and Kyoko let out a sigh.

"Fine, we'll eat. I'm getting hungry, too, anyway..."

"Yay!" Yuma chirped, "Let's go some parfaits!"

Walking to the nearest store, Yuma went ahead and waited at the door for her sister-figure to catch up. But then, Kyoko stopped in her tracks, to Yuma's confusion.

"What's wrong, Kyoko?"

Something felt wrong. This feeling. It's the same feeling she'd get whenever danger was close. She could feel a dark presence around her and this was no Witch. No, it was the same feeling and aura she felt when she had encountered that crazy bitch, Oriko and her crazier partner, Kirika. On the back of her neck, her hair was standing straight and her fingers were wriggling with anxiety. She could smell danger in the air and her instincts sharpened by years of experience could sense it, too.

"Kyoko, what are-?"

Before anyone could react, the store on the opposite side of the street suddenly exploded in a ball of smoke and fire. Instinctively, Kyoko grabbed a hold of Yuma and shielded her from the shrapnel and pieces of glass that flew and ricocheted off her hooded jacket. If they were any closer, bigger pieces of shrapnel would have impaled any part of her body.

Letting go of the green-haired girl, they looked back at the store that was now a complete wreck. They could see black, roasted bodies lying on the ground and the cries of trapped people could be heard in the night sky. But then, Kyoko spotted something, a figure that was dashing away from the scene on the rooftops. Was she the culprit of earlier's explosion, too?

"Yuma, stay here!" Kyoko ordered the girl before sprinting in the figure's direction, "Call the others and try to help the survivors!"

"Kyoko, where are you going?!"

"Just do what I told you to do! I'll be back in a sec', I promise!" Kyoko took a turn into a dark alley and leap over dumpsters and garbage cans using her increased reflex and agility. She could still see the figure in her sights and she wasn't going to let her out of it. Jumping on a ladder, Kyoko climbed up the building to get an advantage of higher ground.

_"Was this the bitch Homura was talking about?" _Kyoko thought, gritting her teeth, _"Was this Killer_ _Queen?!"_

_**- To Be Continued -**_


	4. Chapter 3: A Cat's Explosive Touch (1)

The large shadow of a bladed pendulum swayed back and forth in the silent room of Homura's white lounge. Sitting on the curved couches that were arranged around a small table, Tomoe Mami and Akemi Homura sat on opposite sides of the room, staring at one another as they waited for a certain red-headed Puella Magi and her young partner to arrive.

"They're late," Homura said, hands folded on her lap with an impatient foot tapping on the floor.

"You cannot expect them to be punctual, Akemi," Mami mused, staring at the files on the holographic displays of the wall.

They continued to wait for the two other Puella Magi, with not a word exchanged between the two present ones. Only the _'swoosh__' _of the pendulum and the light sound of Homura's foot tapping on the floor could be heard. The two never really interacted anyway, as Homura wasn't much of a talker since business was always top priority for the girl. Mami, though, didn't really mind much and just sat in her chair, smiling.

"It's been too long," Homura stood up, frowning, "If they're this late, then we'll have to start without them."

Mami sighed, "Perhaps. Strange, though, Sakura is never this late for meetings."

Producing a bunch of files, Homura placed them on the small table in front of her and scattered them one by one to reveal multiple pictures and documents about Ogenasa Shinobu. There were not much on the table, but this was everything Homura had on the girl and this was as much as she could gather in a short time.

Taking one picture to examine it, Mami asked, "This is Ogenasa, correct?"

"Indeed," Homura answered, sitting back down and crossing her legs, "I had called you, Chitose and Sakura here to talk about her. Lately, I have been growing suspicious about this girl."

"Did you not say she was innocent?" Mami placed down the picture and leaned forward in her seat, "Did you change your mind?"

Homura's fingers curled and straightened repeatedly, "Slightly. She indeed does not show any sign of being Killer Queen. But-" Homura pushed a picture of this afternoon's bombing session towards Mami's seat, "-Her being involved and spotted in bombing accidents for the past few days has caught my eye. From the gas station, to the hospital, and now, this afternoon at the Mall."

"Interesting," Mami commented and looked closely at the picture, "But if she isn't the direct cause of these bombings. Then maybe she could be an accomplice instead."

"Maybe. But-" Homura's cell phone interrupted the meeting and Homura answered the call, "Chitose?" she raised a brow, "What, where are you...?! Stay put, we'll be there soon," she closed the phone and stood up from her seat, saying, "A bombing has occurred near Sakura and Chitose's position on their way here. Let's go."

With utmost haste, the two rushed out of Homura's European-styled house and headed to the position Yuma had called them to. Out in the night sky, the moon hovered about the city in full view.

* * *

After minutes spent on pursuing the figure retreating from the bombing accident, Kyoko had followed the figure to a dark, deep and abandoned part of town where you could smell the stench of garbage in the air. The figure had dropped down into the shadows of the alleys, but Kyoko still ran on the high rooftops, following the sounds of movements that could be heard as echoes from the darkness. It was like chasing a rat escaping through a hole in the wall.

Light was little to none as they only came from the glistening moon above, along with the streetlights and lampposts hung on walls that weren't broken or flickering uncontrollably.

But it didn't matter. Chasing down targets in these kind of areas in town was something she always did back in Kazamino for the Witches, and the darkness only made the Puella Magi excited. The feeling of soreness in her boots, the beads of sweat on her forehead and the cold wind blowing on her face was exhilarating to the crimson Puella Magi and was nothing in comparison to her daily Witch hunts.

Suddenly, the sounds of footsteps and tipped-over garbage cans ceased to be heard, along with Kyoko, who also stopped in her movements. She kept her ears open and her body tense, feeling a **menacing** aura emanating from the darkness below. Slowly, Kyoko climbed down a nearby ladder and descended into the pitch black alley. She couldn't hear anything, but she could still feel a presence of a person, or perhaps, two people, nearby.

Stepping on dusty ground, her Puella Magi uniform formed around her body in a flash. A sleeveless red dress with white trims and a pink skirt encasing her body, she wore a set of tall, red boots, disconnected sleeves which ended in dark cuffs and wielded a long, spear taller than her as her Soul Gem casing attached to a small opening on her chest.

Kyoko held her weapon tightly and took slow, forward steps into the darkness, making sure she made the least sound possible. It's been a while since she had fought other Puella Magi. The last two she fought were that pair made up of that crazy bitch, Oriko, and her even crazier and blood-thirsty lacky, Kirika. Geez, were they a pain in the ass. Although, at the time, she didn't expect to be fighting alongside her ex-mentor, Tomoe Mami, and that weird Akemi Homura girl.

She stopped in her tracks. Odd, as Kyoko felt a different aura this time. It was softer, lacking any sort of intimidation and it was like a completely different person was nearby. Then, a beeping noise was heard, along with some whispering that was barely audible. It was a few meters ahead, and as each step brought her closer, she could hear a bit of that whispering._  
_

"Y-Yes, I've reached the designated point. Should I stay here...? I think I lost her. N-No? Okay, I'll be heading back home now..."

Another beep and the sound was right in Kyoko's attack range. _Perfect,_ Kyoko thought, raising her spear in hand. Bending her legs, she leap to the air and twirled her weapon before striking sideways at the source of the noise. She definitely hit something that was human as a scream of pain came and whatever she hit crashed into a pile of collapsing garbage cans.

Landing softly, Kyoko walked up to where she could hear someone whimpering in pain.

_Got her._

Smirking, Kyoko pulled up her struck target from the floor by the collar and shook her, "Hey, still awake? 'cause I'm not done with you," she could feel her target shaking in her grip, "Hey, you listening over here?"

Dragging her target underneath the dim light of a nearby lamp, Kyoko raised a brow when what she had struck with her spear was not an enemy Puella Magi. She could see the ring on bloodied hand, but judging from her terrified expression, she was not an enemy, just a girl who was bleeding from the mouth and shivering non-stop. Kyoko remembered Homura talking about an innocent Puella Magi being recruited and put the girl down softly on the floor, "You, what's your name?"

"O-Ogenasa Shinobu," the girl answered clutching her bleeding abdomen, "What d-do you want with me?'

Kyoko wondered what the Hell was she doing in this part of town. Did she confuse the figure who was running from the sight for this girl, or _was_ she the figure? She couldn't tell, since the girl was just wearing a pair of outside clothes that seemed fine, except for the damage Kyoko had caused with her spear.

Her weapon vanished and Kyoko crouched down to eye-level, "Kid, what are you doing in a place like this?"

"I-I was trying to find my cat," Shinobu explained, wiping the blood from her mouth, "I ended up getting lost here and tried calling my parents to pick me up," she checked her pockets and looked around, "W-Where's my phone?"

Kyoko's eyes wandered around until she found the cell phone lying next to a empty plastic bag and underneath a shattered lamppost, "Sorry about just now," Kyoko apologized with a shrug, walking up to the phone as her normal clothes returned, "Lemme' get that for you."

"N-No, wait...!" Shinobu tugged on Kyoko's jacket, but the girl ignored her.

Picking up the cell phone, Kyoko opened it up and checked to call log to see if there was some truth to the girl's words. Her eyebrows furrowed instead as the moment she clicked open the log, absolutely no calls, received or sent, had been made at all. There was almost nothing in the phone, except for the cat-skull emblem used as the phone's wallpaper.

_What the fuck?_

"Hey, Shinobu, was it?" Kyoko began to get suspicious, "Your phone here-"

"You should not have seen that. I warned you..."

A small explosion erupted from within Kyoko's jacket and sent the girl flying down the alley, screaming. She crashed into a nearby garbage dumpster and dented it on impact, breaking a few of her bones, too. Her jacket was now not only completely obliterated from that blast, but she had actually felt the searing heat from that pressure wave. Even if she tried to shut off her pain receptors, her body still ached with pain.

"B-Bitch!" Kyoko spat, feeling a gaping hole in part of her abdomen. Where muscle and bones should be, was now air. It would take a while to heal the wound, even with her magic, "What the Hell did you just pull on me?!"

A dark chuckle echoed through the dark alley, all the lights around Kyoko shutting off as the sense of a menacing aura returned and sent a chill down her spine, "If you had minded your own fucking business, you wouldn't have ended up like that, you red-headed cunt."

_What the Hell? _Her tone, her speech, this wasn't Shinobu at all. It sounded like someone else, but with the same voice. Gripping her wound, it was still healing and it prevented her from standing up. Her ears then picked up the sounds of footsteps slowly approaching her.

"You're one of Akemi's friends, right?" 'Shinobu' asked, "It's going to be a pain in the ass if you told her about this."

_Come on, just a few more minutes _Kyoko thought and began barking at 'Shinobu's' taunting voice to burn some minutes for recovery, "Who the Hell are you?!"

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, bit by bit, she could see 'Shinobu's' figure in the dark. And once she got a full view of her, Kyoko was utterly speechless, slumping against the dumpster with a gaping mouth and wide eyes.

'Shinobu's' skin on various parts of her body had rotted away, revealing horrible and disgusting burn marks that looked to be permanent. She could see the muscle twitching, like something out of a horror show. Between her teeth was a stick of Pocky, presumably snatched from her pocket when she wasn't looking, and her hair that was tied into a ponytail one on side flew freely in the cold, night air.

'Shinobu' drove her feet into the ground, a smug grin appearing on her scarred face as she let out another chuckle.

"W-What the fu-?"

"Like most people call her, her name is 'Ogenasa Shinobu', a 13 year-old girl and an orphan of the famous Ogenasa faimly," 'Shinobu' began to ramble, eyes narrowed, "She isn't looking for a boyfriend, she schools in that rich Mitakihara Middle-School and doesn't have much friends. She doesn't smoke or drink and his aaaaalways in bed by 11 o'clock so she can get a good sleep. Before she sleeps, she loves to drink a warm glass of milk and do stretching exercises for about... um... 20 minutes. That way, she falls sleep fast and soundly until morning,"

Kyoko's eyebrows twitched as she was confused by 'Shinobu's' sudden rambling. Especially her use of the word 'She' instead of 'I'.

"Every morning she wakes up refreshed and free of stress. During yearly checkups, the doctor says everything is a-OK."

"W-What the fuck are you even talking about?!" Kyoko barked, knowing full-well that this girl was even more crazier than Oriko and Kirika combined.

'Shinobu' raised a finger at Kyoko with the Puella Magi ring on that hand visibly changing color as she wagged it, "I was telling you what Shinobu does to be a happy, little girl and keep a quiet, normal life. Still confused? I can probably tell why," she crouched down and cupped Kyoko's chin, staring at her with lustful eyes, "Because I don't think everyone knows about split-personality disorders."

Taking out her cell phone, 'Shinobu' pressed it to her ear without dialing a number, "Yeah, Shino'? Oh, don't worry, I'll make this quick and clean. Just like everything we've done so far," she closed the phone and smiled devilishly at Kyoko, "What's wrong? If you keep worrying about things, it'll stick in your head and you'll lose sleep, Red. Shinobu's attitude with society as a whole has made her happy, so why don't you do the same?' she chuckled again and shot a grim smirk, "But, since it looks like you're going to get in her way... You'll be answering to me, Red."

"Shut the fuck up!" Kyoko's wound now fully healed, her spear materialized in her hand and attacked the delusional girl, who leap back as if she expected that, "You crazy bitch, like Hell do I understand whatever crap you're spewing at me!"

Clicking her tongue, 'Shinobu' continued, "What _we're _trying to say here, Red, is that you are the kind of shit-faced person who can disturb Shinobu's little peace and quiet and my bombing sprees. So, before you talk to anyone else..."

A flick of a finger and a blinding light from her ring forced Kyoko to squeeze her eyes.

"... I will **erase** you."

Metal boots that ran up to her knees formed around 'Shinobu's' legs with moving pistons hissing steam. Decorated with a cat-skull belt-buckle, a pair of grey shorts connected to tight suspenders that held onto a a sleeveless, armored shirt of black that encased a pink and black Soul Gem on her chest. On her arms, two enormous metallic gauntlets with claws that could flip forward covered up her entire forearm, letting her gloved hands that had the same skull-emblem completely free. And on the sides her head, a pair of black, triangular sensors twitched like ears as Kyoko stood up and wore her own uniform in an instant.

Shinobu cracked her knuckles and licked the upper part of her lips with delight, preparing a battle stance, "**Killer Queen**, that's the name Shino gave to me!"

Twirling her spear, a cocky smile appeared on Kyoko's face as she, too, prepared her own battle stance. She spat some blood and held her spear in both hands, "Well then... bring it! I've beaten the shit out of Puella Magi stronger than you!"

With that final insult, both Killer Queen and Sakura Kyoko stood on their ground, red eyes staring into amber, legs bent and ready to jump, a triple-edged claw flipping forward and a spear disconnecting into segments connected by chains. A gust of howling blew pass and picked up strand of Killer Queen's hair. The sound of water droplet hitting a puddle of water then echoed through the hallway and finally signaled the start of the fight.

_**- To Be continued -**_


	5. Chapter 4: A Cat's Explosive Touch (2)

_In one of the floors of the Mitakihara shopping mall, Kyoko happily called out to the blue-haired girl and her pig-tailed friend as she scuffled past other shoppers and people in the mall to get to them. She stopped in front of them to catch her breath as Yuma caught up to her and tugged on her jacket._

_"What is it?" Sayaka groaned, "And no, we're not going to another place to eat, if that's what you're gonna ask."_

_Kyoko pocketed her hands and __pouted_, "Aww, you're no fun. Just wanted to ask if Yuma and I could stay over at your place for a while. I mean, I can't go back to Kizamono with this 'Killer Whatever' around, right?" she laughed.

_"Wh-Why my place?' Sayaka scratched her cheek and blushed, looking away, "Can't you just ask Mami? She looks like she has plenty of room, right?" she suggested. Looking back, Kyoko's face was awfully close to her's, "You're too close!" she stepped away, "And n-no, I don't have enough room at my place for three people!"_

_Madoka giggled innocently and Kyouko pouted again, "Come on. Please? It's not like we'd break anything. Right, Yuma?"_

_"Yup!" Yuma raised her hand in agreement._

_"I said 'no'!" Sayaka turned around, her face still red, "C-Come on, Madoka, let's go," she hurried off and left Madoka alone with the two Puella Magi. The girl gave a polite bow and smiled before heading off to catch up with her flustered friend through the large crowd of people surrounding them._

_Kyoko sighed in disappointment, "Well, so much for that," she stared at Sayaka's retreating figure as the distance between them increased. She then disappeared into the crowd and out of the redhead's sight, "Come on," Kyoko patted Yuma on the head, "Let's go find a hotel to stay in."_

* * *

Moonlight bathed on the two figures charging at each other at high speeds in a dark, cramped alley of Mitakihara. Adrenaline rushed through their veins as they stopped right in front of each other, face to face, dust kicked up into the air. Killer Queen released a rabid flurry of claw attacks, the first grazed Kyoko's retreating neck and the second was parried by a chained segment of Kyoko's spear. Although large, the claws were undoubtedly fast and deadly in actual usage.

The 14th strike missed as Kyoko by an inch as she slid under the attacking arm and her disassembled spear snaked around both it and Killer Queen's figure. She tightened her grip, trapped the bomber in a lock of chains and spun around to smash her into a metal pipe, cracking it open with a hiss of steam pouring out.

Killer Queen's mouth fiddled with a Pocky stick and her claws retracted to break their owners free of the magical chains. She leap towards the opposing wall and evaded a a spear thrust that impaled the wall behind her like shears into paper, "Gonna have to do better than that, Red! Hahahaha-!"

Another disassembled spear wrapped around her foot and forcefully pulled her back down into the ground, "Shut up, newbie!" Kyoko dragged the crazy Magi close and delivered a knee strike to her chin with a sickening, satisfying crunch, "I got more experience that you!" Kyoko boasted, back-flipping away to avoid another claw attack and reconnect her disjointed spear with a cocky grin.

Smirking with the Pocky still in her mouth, Killer Queen sprung back up from the floor to launch another barrage of attacks, each skillfully parried by blows from the butt of Kyoko's long spear. Fighting in this cramped alley didn't provide much space to attack with a bladed end, but when Kyoko finally did, Killer Queen ducked underneath and kicked up some dust into Kyoko's eyes. Blinding her, Killer Queen then landed a successful attack on her stomach and spilled some blood onto the floor. She attacked again with the other claw, but Kyoko leap over her with intentions of bringing the fight to the rooftops above.

Upon landing on high ground, gripping her bleeding abdomen with the moon behind her, she rubbed the dust off her eyes and gave a smug smile. Kyoko twirled her spear and gestured Killer Queen to come at her.

Still smiling, the crazed bomber jumped into the air with bloodied claws at her side, only for the redhead to cut open a steam pipe and create a thick smokescreen around herself. Unable to see, a disassembled spear lashed out of the smoke and slammed into Killer Queen's side with brute force that cracked her ribs. But, she was persistent, grabbing the chain instead of screaming and using it as a rope to pull her closer to Kyoko.

"Found you!" Killer Queen spotted the redhead who slid to the side and evaded the claw brushing past her neck artery.

Once they both recovered their footing on the rough floor, the two began to get even more engrossed in their fight now that they were in an open space with plenty of room to spill blood. Two figures danced on the rooftops, launching brutal - but calculated attacks underneath the beautiful light of the moon that came out of the clouds. A brutal display of death as claws sparked upon hitting chains that rattled loudly in the quiet night. The smoke blocked their vision, but that did not stop them from flinging their weapons around with sheer tenacity.

"Too slow, Red!" Killer Queen leap over a spear strike and hid in the cover of the smoke.

Kyoko's eyes scanned for whatever she could find, summoning a field of chains comprised of red squares around her body for security, _"Where is she?"_ she thought, panting heavily. A drop of sweat trailed down her face as she gripped her spear and heard an unnerving chuckle in the smoke.

Turning around with her ponytail swishing, a Pocky sticky flew straight at her face and before Kyoko could deflect the object, it exploded in a spectacular fashion, sending her flying out of the smoke and over the alley, screaming in pain from the blast that licked and burnt her flesh. Killer Queen, too, leap out of the smoke and hovered over Kyoko with one leg bent. She drove her metallic boot into the redhead's stomach and gravity brought them down crashing into the alley, creating a wave of dust and a crater with edges jutting out upon impact. The loud result echoed through the alley and could be heard from afar.

Once the dust cleared, Killer Queen triumphantly stood over Kyoko's bruised body, hands on her hips and eyes gazing down on the defeated Puella Magi between her legs, "Ah, that was a good exercise," Killer Queen laughed, rolling her shoulders and stretching her neck.

Coughing out some blood, Kyoko's eyes opened and glared weakly at the Puella Magi standing right above her. Her hand reached for the spear a few centimeters from her fingers, but Killer Queen put the heavy weight off her boot on that hand and crushed it, the boots hissing out some steam as pistons pumped, "W-What the Hell.. did you just do..?!" Kyoko coughed some more, a visible crack on her Soul Gem, "That Pocky stick... it just..."

Killer Queen chuckled loudly and raised a gloved finger, "Still don't understand how my power works, Red? Do I need to **spell **it out for you?" she laughed again and when the hand beneath her boot still struggled for the weapon near it, she narrowed her eyes on Kyoko's weakened state, amazed by the redhead's rebellious attitude, "Well, since you're gonna die soon, why the fuck not?"

Striking a dramatic pose, Killer Queen bent her left arm downwards and brought her right arm across her chest to position it above her bent left arm, bending it in an upwards direction with fingers curled except for the index, pinkie fingers and thumb, "Whatever my hands touch - if I want it to or not - will become a **bomb **of immense power. I'm surprised you survived the first two, but, no matter, where it is, what it is, once I hit the switch, _kaboom_," her hands began to glow in a pinkish light, "Ah, whatever, you can't run anymore, Red. That blow to my ribs did hurt, but I can take a hit."

A grin appeared on Killer Queen's face as the light grew stronger and made Kyoko squeeze her eyes, "It's time to die!" she announced, "Bomb no.1, Primary Bomb!"

Kyoko drew in a sharp breath and muttered, "I still... got one last move left... Been a while since I done it, but your damn yapping gave me enough time to prepare..."

"Hmm?"

"And that is..."

The pole of a spear then smashed into the side of Killer Queen's neck and easily swatted her off the downed Puella Magi like a fly. Killer Queen crashed into the brick wall and slumped over, feeling her spine shatter from that powerful blow, "R-Reinforcements? When did-?" she gasped as surrounding the red Puella Magi were not the other Puella Magi of Mitakihara, but duplicates of Sakura Kyoko, all glaring at her with intense hatred and armed to the teeth.

Getting up to her feet and using her spear as support, Kyoko wiped the blood off her mouth's corner and smirked, "_Rosso Phantasma_," she proudly said, "As you can see... there's now an army made of myself staring right at you, bitch. I may not have enough energy to take another beating like that kick, but, can you tell which is which among all of us?" the duplicates gathered around Kyoko, forming a wall of illusions with weapons.

_Rosso Phantasma,_ an ability Kyoko had not used ever since she had broke her student-mentor relationship with Mami and suffered the deaths of her family. When they died, she had regretted using her powers of illusion to trick people into becoming followers of her father and thus, began suppressing her powers, even at a subconscious level. But now, that didn't matter. Sakura Kyoko was fighting for her life, and she wasn't going to lose to someone who's just became a Puella Magi a few days ago. It was now or never.

"Get her."

Killer Queen grimaced and struggled to stand, only for the army of crimson Puella Magi to descend upon her and began thrashing her around like a rag doll thrown into a bunch of rabid dogs. With devastating, merciless spear strikes tearing away at her body, Killer Queen felt her ribs impale a lung, her stomach battered, her bones shatter and her skull cracking like an egg. Kyoko was paying back for that kick to that stomach with three - no - **five **times the amount of pain she got. She showed the gap of experience and skill between them and made sure that it was beaten into her mind with both ends of the spears she and her clones wielded. This was the sweet taste of vengeance coming from someone who had her back facing the wall, as when an animal is cornered, it will fight for its life with whatever it had.

The final attack sent Killer Queen crashing into a bunch of garbage bins, spilling their contents on her outfit as she was beaten beyond measure. She wouldn't be getting up for a while, but she was lucky enough to ever be getting up in the first place. That is, if the beating Kyoko gave didn't kill her outright. But after a few seconds of staring at Killer Queen's still-body, Kyoko used her spear as a crutch and limped off, blood trailing from her mouth as her damaged casual clothes returned, "_I gotta... get some help... Sayaka's place should be nearby here."_

As she left slowly, Kyoko disappeared into the darkness and left the area.

Killer Queen's finger then twitched slightly.

* * *

"Kyoko!" Yuma's call echoed through the dark, damp alley before silence eventually drowned it out.

It had been half an hour since the group had gathered and begun searching for the crimson Puella Magi. They had followed the path Kyoko had took and stuck together as a search party since then. Yuma had already taken care of those that were struck by the latest bombing, and now, she walked beside Mami in the cramped space of the Mitakihara alleys with their weapons ready in case they meet any trouble. Homura searched from the high rooftops above, jumping from one building to another in their search.

"Kyoko!" Yuma repeated, to no avail and much disappointment. A pat on the head came from Mami, who tried cheering her up.

"Akemi!" Mami looked above shouted to the Puella Magi above them, "Can you see anything from there?"

Homura swooped down and did a three point landing as her outfit fluttered upon reaching ground-level. She stood up and stroked her hair, "No. Nothing ahead but the same alleys and corners," she reported, keeping her usual monotone, "But, I did hear the sound of an explosion farther ahead. Faint. But I am certain it was an explosion."

"Then we should go check it out," Mami advised, raising an ornate musket and walking forward with the two lining up behind her in the tight space, "If we're lucky enough, that could have been Sakura trying to tell us of her position."

For minutes, the group navigated through the familiar-looking corners and turns of the alley, kicking stuffed trash cans out of their say and repeatedly calling out the redhead's name in vain. Their shouts would echo for seconds and the group hoped they were not too late to for anything that might have happened as nothing answered those calls.

Reaching a end, Homura and Mami pointed their guns down both alleyways the end split into and checked for any movements. Mami reported no signs of life on her end and lowered her weapon slowly, but Homura kept her own weapon raised as she could hear faint footsteps from her side. As they grew louder, the two Puella Magi aimed their guns in the same direction and heard an unfamiliar voice muttering in the darkness. Homura released the safety of her Steyr Aug rifle with a click and Yuma readied her hammer.

The slow footsteps neared and Homura pulled out a flare from her shield. She lit it and rolled it towards the source of the footsteps where it stopped at the feet of a young, teenage girl covered in blood and injuries. Mami lowered her weapon and gasped, running to the woman's aid, "Chitose, help me with this!" she ordered as Yuma nodded. Homura lowered her rifle and stared suspiciously at the teenage girl.

The girl collapsed in Mami's arms, her head cradled by the Puella Magi as she was laid down on the floor, head resting on Mami's lap. The girl looked utterly terrible, bearing wounds that looked like she had been attacked by a rabid dog and clothes that had been ripped to shreds. With a quick order from the senior Magi, Yuma raised her weapon over her head and it glowed brightly in the darkness of the alley. The woman's wounds immediately began to regenerate as cuts were sealed and broken bones returned to their position.

The girl's eyelids slowly opened and her mouth muttered something inaudible.

"Miss, are you alright?" Mami brushed a strand of golden hair off the girl's face, "What happened to you and who did this?"

The young girl touched her forehead, looking at the regenerated skin in amazement. She sat back up and felt a throbbing headache. Homura kept a suspicious eye on her as she spoke, feeling a strange, familiar aura from her, "I... I can't remember. But-" she pointed at the alley opposite of where she had came from, "-I saw a girl running down that alley. S-She was chasing someone, from what I saw."

"Could it be Kyoko?" Yuma asked her seniors who assumed the same thing, too.

Homura looked away from the girl and pulled out a Beretta pistol, speaking bluntly, "If so, then we should continue, Tomoe. Chitose."

Mami nodded and rested a hand on Yuma's shoulder, telling her calmly, "Chitose, I want you to bring back this girl back to the street we were in just now. Akemi and I will continue to look for Sakura, okay?"

Hesitating, the younger Magi obviously did not want to leave the chase for her older-sister figure. But she knew better than to argue with a veteran, knowing that if Kyoko was here, she would have told her to do the same thing. Yuma nodded instead and looked down on the floor, "Okay," she muttered as Mami passed by her. Yuma heard their footsteps slowly fade behind her, and when she looked behind, she could no longer see the two veteran Puella Magi, "Kyoko, where are you?"

Looking back at the girl, Yuma's eyes widened in shock as she was no longer sitting there, having disappeared without a single trace, "W-Where did...?"

* * *

_"Almost there... just a bit more..."_

A trail of fresh blood droplets followed Kyoko from behind as the girl gripped her bleeding abdomen, which took its sweet time to heal from her injuries. She had used way too much magic in that fight just now, and Rosso Phantasm had only made her expend her energy even more. Her cracked Soul Gem was already beginning to darken, as Kyoko could feel death's grip on her becoming tighter and tighter. It was just like how it felt when Kyoko experience her first near-death encounter with a Witch. But this time, she had no time to deal with that, and she knew that this was the end of the line for her.

It did not matter, as she was already close to her desired destination.

Kyoko heaved, walking on a clean path with working streetlights and trees at her side. Her clothes were still tattered to the point of being useless, her spear was still being used as a crutch in her hand, and up ahead of her was a small apartment complex that Sayaka lived in. Lights could be seen coming from the lobby through the glass, sliding doors, but not from the windows of the rooms above it.

Reaching the doors, Kyoko looked inside the apartment lobby and saw that nobody was inside. She then leaned on the building's exterior and clicked on the intercom's calling button with a bleeding finger, "S-Sayaka... you there?" she panted slowly, hearing the sound of static answer her, "Sayaka...?" her frown turned into an exhausted smile as her head placed her head against the wall, "Ah, right. Y-You're probably out... seeing that boy again. It's alright... I understand. Just wanted to leave a message."

A sigh escaped her bleeding mouth which smiled weakly, "You see, you were right about me being rash this afternoon, you know? I met the 'Killer Queen' that Homura was talking about, and now-" she chuckled dryly, hand soaked in blood, "-I'm all sorts of fucked up," Kyoko sat down on the ground, but kept her finger tight on the button, "Tell the others... Tell the others that 'Killer Queen' is a girl named 'Ogenasa Shinobu'. Don't let her fool you, she's a crazy bitch with a personality disorder, and her other side isn't afraid to kill someone,"

Her head titled to one side and a puddle of blood formed around her, "Why I, out of all people, is asking you to do a favor? Because, right now... I don't think I can do it myself," Kyoko looked up at the starry sky and the wind picked up her long, flowing ponytail, "Take care of Yuma, too, will ya'? She's gonna need someone to watch over her when I'm gone," the Soul Gem on her neck continued to crack. As Kyoko released the button, she looked back on the path-walk and saw Killer Queen now standing in front of her, fully healed with folded arms.

Kyoko smirked, "Come on, do it," she leaned back on the wall, unable lift a finger, "I'm right in front of you."

As soon as she said that, Kyoko gasped as she felt three metallic blades impale her abdomen and exit out of her back with ease, ripping through her stomach and other organs as Kyoko puked out some blood and stained the floor with her red bodily fluids.

But, her smirk did not waver nor break.

"You gave me a bit of trouble there," Killer Queen complimented with a smile, caressing Kyoko's Soul Gem with a gloved finger, "But, as skilled as you were, I can't let you live any longer, Red," she fished out a Pocky stick from Kyoko's pocket and placed it between Kyoko's lips as a last gift. Giving it a light tap with her finger, Killer Queen pulled out her bloodied weapon, turned around and quietly stepped away from the dying Puella Magi.

Kyoko stared at Killer Queen's back, watching with dull eyes as she lied in a thick pool of her own blood. A smile came to her face as an image of her family flashed before her eyes, along with Sayaka, Yuma and Mami. All of them were smiling at her, as Killer Queen raised one hand with a thumb sticking out, as if she held a detonator in her hands.

_"I'll leave Yuma to you, Sayaka. Take care of her..."_

A sadistic formed on Killer Queen's face.

_"Yuma, be a good girl will you? Sayaka ain't that bad once you get to know her..."_

Killer Queen turned around.

_"And everybody...? See ya' later..."_

Kiler Queen's thumb pressed down on her closed hand, and an explosion erupted outside the apartment complex, scorching everything that was inside the blast radius. It was unhearable to those that weren't Puella Magi, and left nothing behind but ashes that flew away with the wind as the smoke cleared.

Kyoko Sakura, had bit the dust, with nothing but her message to Sayaka being what was left of her erased existence.

* * *

Sitting outside the hospital room that Kyousuke Kamijou was sleeping peacefully, Sayaka looked out the window of the floor she was on and gazed at the shimmering lights of Mitakihara's enormous buildings that stood tall like enormous, physical Gods. She brought a hand to her chest, feeling something tug at her heart with a string as she felt like she had lost something close to her.

The violin music Kyousuke was listening to poured out of his room, and into the lonely, dark hallway Sayaka was in.

On her seat, Sayaka closed her eyes, thinking, _"Kyoko..."_

_**- To Be Continued -**_

* * *

**Puella Magi Stats Sheet**

**Name and Code:** Kyoko Sakura.

**Destructive Power: **A

**Speed: **A

**Range: **A

**Durability: **D

**Precision: **B

**Development Potential: **D

**Abilities:**

Rosso Phantasma, where Kyoko summons copies of herself into battle. Although an ability that was previously stopped in its usage, it is used as a desperate attack against Killer Queen in their skirmish.

Crimson Chains, an ability where Kyoko summons a field of chains made up of red, sharp squares.

General Puella Magi powers, such as increased durability, agility, strength and reflexes.

Telepathy, as when Kyubey is around, it can or may transmit the thoughts of nearby Puella Magi and form a communication link between them.

**Weapons:** A spear that can disconnect and act as a jointed weapon connected by chains.

...

**Name and Code:** Killer Queen/Shinobu Ogenasa.

**Destructive Power: **A

**Speed: **A

**Range: **D

**Durability: **B

**Precision: **B

**Development Potential: **A

**Abilities:**

Bomb Transmutation, as anything touched by Killer Queen, no matter what, will be charged with explosive energy. When someone touches it, the energy will be conducted into them, creating an internal explosion that completely wipes out the target

Facial Changing, as Shinobu's ability allows her to change her facial features to whatever she likes to hide her scars, or even create a disguise for stealth.

Personality Switch, as both girls reside in the same body, they are able to take turns over its control.

?

General Puella Magi powers, such as increased durability, agility, strength and reflexes.

Telepathy, as when Kyubey is around, it can or may transmit the thoughts of nearby Puella Magi and form a communication link between them.

**Weapons:** Giant metal claws springing forward from her gauntlets that can cut even a car in half.


	6. Chapter 5: Catching a Stray Cat (1)

_**A/N: To Guest's review: The name 'Killer Queen' comes with some of the lyrics as well, also referencing a manga series which does the same reference.**_

* * *

It was already midnight as Miki Sayaka returned to her apartment complex. When she arrived at the lobby doors with tired legs and eyes that begged to close, there was this big, black burn mark on the building exterior. It was cool to the touch and it looked as if an explosive had been set off here. There was also some damage to the building exterior, but nothing too serious to warrant the girl's further attention. Sayaka went inside the lobby and guessed some idiot had played with some fireworks.

Yawning as she stood in the moving elevator, she wondered what were the Puella Magi doing at this kind of hour. Hunting Witches, tracking that 'Killer Queen' Homura told them about? Oh, how she wanted to partake in all that. Especially after that bombing this afternoon, seeing all those people that needed to be saved had showed her that the Puella Magi need more numbers. But then, she'd have to make a wish with Kyubey if she wanted to, and that small creature wasn't even here. Homura did order her and Madoka to not contract, but Sayaka now questioned that order.

The doors then slid open and Sayaka walked out of the elevator with the doors closing behind her. The corridor was kept clean and carpeted as usual, her apartment being the one at the end of the long hallway. Taking out her key, she opened the door, entered her apartnent and dumped her bag on the nearest table before heading to her room.

The inside of her room was quite large, having a big window to look out at the city, a queen-sized bed for herself, wardrobes, some mirrors and a computer table with a stuffed toy sitting on a shelf above it. She had won that toy at a festival with Madoka last year. Sayaka closed the curtains, shut off the light and got into her sleepwear. Picking out a small song comprised of violins and other soft orchestral songs, she fell onto her bed, burying her face into a comfy pillow.

_"I wonder what's Kyoko doing?"_ she thought, rolling onto one side.

Thoughts of the redhead occupied her mind for some time as the image of her cocky smirk flashed before her eyes. The arrogance Kyoko always showed bothered Sayaka to no end, seeing as how her life was always on the line each time she went to hunt Witches. Honestlty, Sayaka wouldn't mind becoming a Puella Magi for her sake. If Kyousuke wasn't handicapped, she would be her reason for her wish.

Before she got to close her eyes and fall into a deep sleep, the beeping noise from her room intercom annoyingly alerted her to a message she had. Sayaka got off her bed, groaning heavily, bare feet on a cold, wooden floor as she clicked on the intercom button, "What is it?" she grumbled.

"You have 1 message," the computer's voice reported, "The message had been sent approximately 1 hour, 2 minutes and 34 seconds ago. Would you like to play out the message?"

Rolling her eyes, Sayaka scratched the back of her head, wandering who in the right mind would leave a message at this kind of time, "Play it," she sighed, walking back to her bed and sitting down on it to listen.

The intercom let out another beep, and the hoarse voice of Sakura Kyoko then spoke through the speakers, grasping Sayaka's attention immediately, "S-Sayaka... you there?"

"Kyoko?" Sayaka gripped her pillow, asking in her mind what was she doing her an hour ago. But when she listened, she could tell from the redhead's voice that she was not okay.

"Sayaka...? Ah, right, Y-You're probably out, seeing that boy again. It's alright - I understand. Just wanted to leave a message," Sayaka heard a small sigh as her hands gripped the sides of her bed. She felt her face go cold, her mind begging that nothing bad had happened.

"You see, you were right about me being rash this afternoon, you know? I met the 'Killer Queen' that Homura was talking about, and now-" a dissonant chuckle came, "-I'm all sorts of fucked up - Tell the others... Tell the others that 'Killer Queen' is a girl named 'Ogenasa Shinobu'. Don't let her fool you; she's a crazy bitch with a personality disorder, and her 'other side' isn't afraid to kill someone."

As she listened in closely, Sayaka felt something wet run down her cheek. Biting her lips, her throat went dry, "K-Kyoko... When did you...?"

"Why I, out of all people, is asking you to do a favor? Because, right now... I don't think I can do it myself..."

She got off her bed, putting her hand near to the button as she felt like she couldn't take it anymore. But her finger turned stiff a centimeter away from touching the small button, "Alright... I'll do it for you," she muttered, cupping her mouth when the message became quieter than the sound of her computer's violin music, "If only... If only I came back earlier, I would've-"

"Take care of Yuma, too, will ya'? She's gonna need someone to watch over her when I'm gone-" the message then ended there, the definite beep that came with the end of the message echoing through the room as Sayaka fell to her knees with wide eyes.

"Kyoko?" she whispered, tears streaming from her eyes, "No... the message can't end here - Kyoko!" despite her plea, nothing else came. Nothing but the silence of death and the crackling of the intercom. Sayaka wept as the message had ended, just like Kyoko, and the silence only confirmed that for her. She now knew what the burnt mark outside the building was, and the thought of that made her choke.

But, even as she may now be gone, her spirit now lived on, as Sayaka got up to her knees once her tears stopped. Her shaking hand picked up the phone as she then called for the Puella Magi, dialing in the numbers of Tomoe Mami and Akemi Homura.

* * *

There was a gloomy, tense atmosphere in the white room of Homura's household as the shadow of the pendulum continued to swing above the silent body of Akemi Homura. It created a moving shadow as she sat completely still on her seat. She was like a stone-cold statue with an equally-hard stare, showing none of the anger or frustration inside her. But, even after countless timelines had given her this lifeless stare, her anger could be felt all around.

Sakura Kyoko was dead. Homura had received the call from Sayaka, a closed phone placed on the table in the middle of the room with the file about Ogenasa Shinobu.

_That girl in the alley_, Homura thought, she must have been Killer Queen in disguise. Yuma had told her on how she had disappeared the moment Yuma was left alone with her. As for the 'personality disorder' Sayaka informed her, they did not work like this. It was too different from normal cases that were also too far of a stretch to be true. But if it was true, then Killer Queen must have been injured by Kyoko and Shinobu fooled them into thinking otherwise. A clever trick that even got Homura to play along.

The door to the house opened with a creaking noise. Walking into the light of the white room, Tomoe Mami, who bore a drained look of mourning, appeared. Homura did not look at her as she sat down next to her, burying her forehead in an open hand.

"Has Chitose been told about this?" Homura quietly asked.

Mami took a deep breath in and rubbed away a tear in her reddish eyes, "Yes. I had sent her to be taken care of by Miki, as Sakura wanted."

Standing up from the couch, Homura slid out Shinobu's file from underneath her cell phone and gave the first picture of the blonde a cold stare. Homura flung the folder away and it landed near the unlit part of the large room, Homura scowling ever so slightly, "Ogenasa Shinobu. That girl... she must be taken care of immediately if we are to take on Walpurgisnacht."

The blonde agree with a slow nod. The loss of one member in an already-small group was something they could not afford again. Mami stood up, picking up the file from the floor and dusting it thoroughly, "If so, what is your plan? We do not know anything of Killer Queen's powers. Approaching her could spell disaster for us both."

"I shall deal with her myself. I do not need anyone to interfere."

Mami shot Homura's back a hard glare, a rare frown forming on her face, "If you are going to stop Ogenasa, I will be taking part of it. And also-" she tossed the file to Homura, who caught it nonchalantly without even looking, "This is not a matter of revenge. Both Killer Queen and Ogenasa have caused harm to innocent people and I will **not ** stand idly by when many more could be harmed tomorrow and the day after that. I made an oath as a Puella Magi to protect this town from anything that harms it."

They both turned to each other and locked in on one another's eyes in silence, creating a thick atmosphere that could be felt from outside. Conflict such as this was not unexpected. They two have never been interested in getting on each other's good side the moment they formed an alliance. They shared too little and differed too much. Morals; Paths; Aims. Their morality level were on a different spectrum.

But, at times, it was possible for them to see eye-to-eye. Tomoe Mami had already accepted the harsh revelation of a Puella Magi's inevitable fate and was no longer the frail girl she was before. In earlier timelines, she had tried killing them all to spare them their fates, but now, after the incident of Oriko and Kirika, she was stronger, physically and mentally. Thus, Homura's tense shoulders relaxed along with their gazes at this thought.

"Very well. If you are so keen on joining, then I will not stop you. But, do not tell anyone else about what we are about to do," Homura opened her file and displayed it on the table. Sitting down on the couch with crossed legs, she declared their next move with a cold monotone, "Tomorrow, we shall lure Ogenasa to a Witch Barrier, through the assumption that she thinks we do not know her identity, and end her there."

* * *

It had been half an hour since Mami had dropped off Yuma at Sayaka's place, and a full hour since Sayaka had made the call to the Mitakihara Puella Magi. For the next 20 minutes, she had tried to get Yuma to eat and bathe, but the girl would not budge nor listen to her. She would just sit at a corner of her bedroom in a fetal position, silent, unresponsive, like a lost child without her mother.

Sayaka sat on the side of her bed, a plate of fresh food next to her, as she had tried and failed all methods of communicating with Yuma. She had heard a bit of her past from Kyoko before, remembering the redhead saying that a Witch had killed both her parents in front of her eyes. Kyoko had indirectly saved her by killing the Witch during her daily patrols and after some thinking, took Yuma in as an apprentice. Since then, they become more than just master and apprentice, as they've both worked together with Mami during the Oriko and Kirika incident.

It must have been hard for her to have both her blood relatives die with her being the sole survivor, and after that, hearing the death of the one who took you in as family only a few weeks later. Kyoko and Yuma were practically like sisters of different blood-lines, two girls that lost their familes and have become Puella Magi in order to continue having a purpose in life. But how was she supposed to take care of Yuma if she wouldn't talk to her? There should be a way for her, if she didn't want to let Kyoko down.

The doorbell rang, and Sayaka got off her bed to answer the door, leaving Yuma alone for a while. Flicking on the living room lights and tightening her pajamas, she opened the door to see Madoka fidgeting in the hallway, "Madoka, what are you doing here? It's already past midnight." Sayaka asked, worried if she had come here without her parents' awareness at this kind of time.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to check up on you and Chitose," Madoka said morosely, bowing down, "Mami told me about what happened to Kyoko..."

Sayaka's lips pursed, and she slowly moved out of the doorway to let her best friend inside, "She's in my bedroom. She hasn't said or eaten anything since she came here..."

Taking off her shoes and stepping into the apartment, Madoka sat on the living room couch as Sayaka went to get her a few beverages from the kitchen. Madoka turned on the TV and a news report regarding the previous bombings appeared on-screen. From what the news anchor said, those that couldn't be saved were cremated by their families after the incidents and the police were still disoriented from the sudden attacks. If the attack on their school done by Oriko didn't send them into chaos, the alleged Killer Queen did so.

The horror of the one Madoka had been caught in this afternoon still lingered in the back of Madoka's mind, sending a cold chill up her spine and making her shiver; the screaming, the fires, the black, burnt bodies strewn all over the floors like puppets with their string cut. It made Madoka hold herself tight and close her eyes in shock, a soft cry audible despite the television's noise.

Coming back into the living room, Sayaka placed down her tray of drinks and switched off the TV. She dropped the remote on the coffee table, lamenting quietly, "We... We couldn't do anything to help them. We couldn't save any of them."

"It's too terrible," Madoka cried softly, her eyes leaking tears, "Why would someone do something like this?"

Sitting down next to her, Sayaka wrapped her arms around her best friend and held her tight, rubbing her head to calm her down, "I don't know. But, I know that we can't just sit here and let Killer Queen continue doing this. All those people that died... How can Homura just tell us to sit and wait while Killer Queen's doing all these sorts of things to innocent people?" she looked at her bedroom, seeing Yuma still in her corner through the open doorway, "How can she just...?"

Madoka suddenly gripped her hands and held them tight, bringing them to her chest, "Sayaka... let's... let's just believe in them, okay? With Mami, I'm sure Homura can beat that girl," she wiped the tears off her cheeks, even if they still continued to run, "We're all friends, aren't we? Isn't it normal for us to cheer them on?"

"... Yeah. I guess you're right," she slowly brought Madoka up with her, gesturing to her bedroom, "Can you help me talk to her?" Sayaka requested quietly.

"Of course," Madoka gave a smile and wiped her tears away.

As they headed back into Sayaka's bedroom to talk to Yuma, Sayaka prayed to Kyoko for any help the redhead could give her from up there. She was going to need it.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a large two-story apartment in the city, the atmosphere contrasted greatly with the gloom of the Miki and Akemi households. Up in the higher floors of the towering apartment, one could hear loud, heavy music blaring from one of the rooms, drowning out the constant meowing of the cats practically sitting on every surface of the apartment's wooden furniture. Some cats clawed freely at the furniture and some snoozed on the floor, empty cans of cat food and instant noodles littering the floor as Killer Queen snoozed on the couch in unwashed clothing. Her wounds had all been healed by Yuma's magic, but her scars remained since Shinobu wasn't 'in control' at the moment.

A pink sleeping mask covered her eyes, her blonde hair a complete mess as she did not mind the stereos that blasted out various songs sung by her favorite band, 'Queen'. But one of her neighbors did, the sound of loud knocking coming from the door a midst the loud noise, "Ogenasa, turn that music off this instant!' the doorknob shook as the woman outside tried to open it, catching Killer Queen's attention, "Ogenasa, just because your parents are gone, it doesn't mean you can do whatever you want!"

Killer Queen slicked back her hair and fixed it into a one-side ponytail in one go, scratching her scarred face as she flipped open her phone to 'talk' to Shinobu. It was a strange way to talk to your alternate personality, but it just worked in a strange but useful way. She just guessed it involved magic or some crap like that, "Don't worry. I'll take care of her. Just leave things like this to me, will ya?" closing the cell, she grabbed the couch and leap over her numerous cats on the floor, landing in front of the door in one bound. Flexing a gloved hand, she tapped the doorknob, announcing, "It's open now."

As soon as she saw the knob twitch, she hit the 'switch' and the sound of explosion erupted outside the door. The smell of ashes and gunpowder brought a shiver of sadistic satisfaction to Killer Queen, who headed back to the couch and landed back in her favorite comfy spot. Legs on the table, Killer Queen flipped open her cell phone and pet the cat nearest to her.

"So, where do we hit next, Shino? The bakery, an arcade, the train station?" she kicked a dirty plate of food off her table and it crashed on the floor in pieces. The cats fighting over the leftovers in the floor, the table revealed a map of the city with multiple marked points, "Oh, maybe we should somewhere big next! How about that?"

Over the phone, she heard Shinobu express rare concern over the phone. Unusual, since she had been very lenient over the past few days with her bombings as long as they were discreet and didn't bother her peaceful life, _"Queen, for a while, can you please stop your bombings? After killing that red Puella Magi, we should keep low to avoid any suspicions. It could lead us to anyone who's actively trying to find you."_

"Eh, that runt?!" Killer Queen laughed, scratching the chin of a gold cat beside her, "Shino, we've managed to avoid the cops and Puella Magi for days already! First the hospital, then that CD shop, I made sure that nothing was left of Red, too! Trust me when I say this: **Nothing** will be bothering you from now on. When I came along, I promised that."

_"Still... if they manage to get leads on us - even one - we-"_

"Calm down, Shino'," Killer Queen picked up a cat and placed it on her lap, "We're in this together. I told you that when we first met in the hospital. If anyone tries to mess with you, they'll get their throats cut open by me and erased permanently," her battle gauntlets materialized in one hand and its metallic, 20 centimeter claws sprung forward, frightening some of her pets as they all looked in her direction instead of the spilled food.

Her cat ran hopped off her lap and Killer Queen proceeded to her room, a single claw scraping on her wooden wall as it left a deep trail behind. In her room, it was just as messy as her living room; filled with trash and all sorts of weird decorations about her favorite bands bought with Shinobu's extensive cash. There was a closet next to her relatively-clean bed, which she opened up to reveal a wide array of explosives and pictures of the Mitakihara Puella Magi. The picture of Sakura Kyoko had already been crossed out, Homura and Mami being her remaining targets.

"If they try anything, I'll be ready for them," closing her phone, she tossed it onto her bed and lied down next to it to sleep. Tomorrow, they were going to be very busy.

**_- To Be Continued -_**


End file.
